Andres Pinto, chair and professor of oral and maxillofacial medicine and diagnostic sciences, is the new president-elect of the American Academy of Oral Medicine (AAOM), a membership organization representing the specialty of oral medicine in the United States.
Pinto has been part of the academy’s executive committee for the past seven years, and an active member of the AAOM for the past two decades, and has received five certificate of merit awards. He is slated to receive the Herschfus Award (one of three top awards in the field) for service to the academy in 2021.
The American Academy of Oral Medicine’s members provide care to thousands of our nation’s youth and adults whose underlying medical condition affects oral health and the delivery of dental care. Oral medicine is defined as the specialty of dentistry primarily engaged with the medical management of disorders affecting the oral and maxillofacial region. These include oral mucosal disorders, salivary gland disease, oral effects of cancer therapy, autoimmune disorders, face/head/neck pain, and the oral management of sleep disordered breathing.
In addition to his position as founding chair and tenured professor of oral and maxillofacial medicine and diagnostics at the School of Dental Medicine, Pinto leads the graduate programs at the school as assistant dean. He holds secondary appointments in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Otolaryngology at the School of Medicine. He has 22 years of academic, clinical and leadership experience.
Pinto will become president of the American Academy of Oral Medicine for the 2021-22 year, which will coincide with oral medicine’s first full year as a nationally American Dental Association-recognized specialty. Oral medicine is the 11th specialty in the United States. The AAOM celebrates its 75-year anniversary in 2020.